PART 13- MARRY ME
Arnav gulped. He reached for Khushi's sleeping form, and then pulled back. "I am Arnav Singh Raizada. I can do this..." he reached for her again, but hesitated. He screamed frustratedly inside his head and stalked out of the room. "Di?" He called to her... Anjali was serving Shyam dinner.
"One minute Chhotey!" She hurried excitedly. "Well? What happened!"
"I-uh..." he looked away. Anjali said frustratedly, "Tumne nahi bataya!"
Anjali muttered. "Badey aaye businessman! Ek ladki se darte ho...woh bhi tumhari PATNI."
"What the! I am not-"
"Oh God! Never mind Chhotey! Now do as I tell you!" she scolded. Arnav sighed with relief, his Di was going to help him!
Anjali had different plans in her mind... I am sorry little bro, but I have to lie to you...! She is YOUR wife, and you must do things on your own...Without me convincing you, you won't even wake her up... Then smiling, or rather smirking, she asked, "Keep your Bluetooth on. Ok? I will call you in half an hour"
Arnav nodded, and went back to his room. He typed away on his laptop, imagining Khushi's reaction when he saw all this. He smiled...
HALF AN HOUR LATER-
"Hello? Chhotey? Ok, first wake her up very very gently... and wait for my next cue..."
Arnav said "Thanks Di." And slowly walked towards Khushi's sleeping form. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear. "I love you Khushi..." and kissed her gently on her left cheek.
Khushi's hand flew to her cheek and her eyes shot open. "Arnavji?"
He waited for his Di to answer, but unfortunately... "Well, my job is done Chhotey! I needed you to atleast wake her up... One advice: Let words come from you heart." With that the phone went *click* Arnav was shocked "What the-!"
Khushi groaned. "Aapne hume 'what the-' kehne jagaaya hai kya?"
"Di?" He yelled. He forgot Khushi was here. His Di was much much cleverer than she put on.
Khushi frowned, clearly annoyed. "Arnavji, lagta hai aapka dimaag taara ban chuka hai...Hum DI nahi hai...Khushi hain Khushi..."
"What?" He asked distractedly, and looking at Khushi's face, he realized where he was, and what he had been trying to do and WHY he was not able to do it now...
"Excuse me for a sec Khushi!" He said... and walked out of the room.
As soon as Khushi's eyes flew open, she felt she was dreaming. "I love you Khushi..." he had whispered, which was punctuated by a warm rush on her cheeks. Had to be a dream? Khushi could feel butterflies in her stomach. She looked around and scolded herself again...Khushi Kumari Gupta! You are dreaming! She told herself... Arnav Singh Raizada did all this?
And he had created such a beautiful room. All around her was a dim blue, iridescent light... small silver lights were suspended everywhere. It was like the night sky. Pale gossamer cascaded down the walls. Blue and Gold candles were set here and there...it was so...so ETHEREAL! Then she remembered his erratic behaviour... he had said 'what the-' and then yelled DI! Ye Laad Governor ka dimaage dheere-dheere pighaltha jaa raha hai... Feeling resentful, she she walked around, fingering the gossamer and caressing the silver lights.
Anjali was just entering her room, when she saw Chhotey. She looked at his angry face, and knew at once what was wrong... "DI! Why did you-"
Anjali groaned. "Unbelievable! Mujhe daatne ke liye tum Khushiji ko chhodkar aa gaye... Woh tumhe paagal soch rahi hogi...!"
"But Di, aapne meri madad karne ki promise ki thi...!"
Anjali closed her eyes, trying not to show her impatience. "Dekho Chhotey, I lied okay? Socha tha tum kuch kar logey.. but how could I forget? ASR's eternal anger!"
"So that means you're going to help me." Anjali smirked in response. "No. Goodnight Chhotey, figure it out yourself. Tell her all that you want to say... make her FEEL your love..." She closed the door in his face.
Arnav inhaled, and determined he walked back to his room.
Arnav watched his wife... mesmerized by the divine blue light enveloping her, and that faint smile on her face. She was fingering the silver lights. He slowly went behind her and hugged her from behind. "Do you like it?"
She turned to him. "LIKE it? I LOVE IT!" She said gleefully. Arnav was again mesmerized by her childlike innocence.
Then he turned her to face him; in a faint blue light... "I am sorry...Mujhe maaf kar do..."
"Arnavji, it happens! Humans make mistakes and-"
"No Khushi. I promised to you that I will make it up to you. And I will... Whatever I do won't be enough for how much I hurt you. So I will try to make up for as many occasions as possible."
As she delicately reached to touched a floating light, Arnav tugged at her hand and pulled her outside, by the pool. "Kya?" She asked, still smiling.
Arnav said nothing, but just stared at her intensely. He did that till he could sense her discomfort. Finally satisfied, he took a step towards her... And thankfully, she stepped back as well. Now smiling at her, he advanced towards her, making her blush hard; this was becoming routine...he would step ahead, and she would step back! He walked slowly towards her, till he had her cornered against the wall. He put both his hands on either sides of her, trapping his Blushing Darling. He met Khushi's hazel gaze, and slowly leaned toward her, not breaking eye contact for even a moment. Khushi closed her eyes in anticipation.
Arnav was happy. Happy that for the first time, she hadn't asked, "Arnavji, ye aap kya ka rahe hain?"
Khushi was sure Arnav could hear her heartbeat. She felt his warm lips on her closed eyes first. Then, he kissed her... very gently and softly on her lips. She did not understand why, but at that moment, she could not help feel that Arnav was like the Sea... Beautiful when calm, and horrifying when angry...
And much to Arnav's delight, she kissed him back. As Arnav pulled away, he whispered to her. "Tumhe Diwali yaad hai Khushi?" Khushi nodded...HOW could she forget.
"Ye uss din ke liye." Khushi was taken by surprise. "What?"
"I know I hurt you alot Khushi. I could see it in your eyes; but I wanted to hear it from you... Then, I announced my engagement to Lavanya; also because I knew it would hurt you. I was not able to tolerate the fact that your very presence would arouse something in the air around me and CONTROLLED me..." Khushi listened silently. He went on "And I think we finished our kissing from where we left it last Diwali..." He smiled at her; her heart went erratic again.
"And Khushi? I am sorry I broke your dreams... about-about a beautiful wedding..."
"Don't worry Arnavji... I have you now."
"But I want to make up for that too." She laughed lightly and thought, 'what next! He is going to go down on his knees and ask me to marry him?'
Much to her shock, that's exactly what he did. He went on to his knees. "Khushi, I beg for your forgiveness. I know that won't be enough, but I apologize through and through for what you put up with... I ruined your wedding... And I plan to make it to you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red box. He flipped it open, and Khushi gasped.
It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was a platinum band, with a thin inverted deep purple amethyst-frame heart, which was an heart cut from ruby; it was held by the amethyst. Three small yellow stones were inlaid into the band on either side of the heart."Khushi, though I don't deserve someone like you... though I have been arrogant... I Arnav Singh Raizada, your 'Swami' and 'Laad Governor' have finally got down on my knee to ask you... Khushi... Will you marry me?"
Khushi stood transfixed to the spot. Staring at Arnav. Did he come up with that all on his own? She slowly got down to her knees beside him, and kissed him again. "Yes 'Swami'" she whispered. Khushi watched tenderly, filled with emotions, as Arnav slid the ring onto her ring finger... Arnav kissed her hand, and whispered to her, "Did you know 'Purple' stands for mischief, yellow stands for happiness...my Khushi...and-"
Khushi finished for him, smiling. "Red stands for love...our everlasting, mischievous and happy love..."
PRECAP- "Akash, she is the lady whom Shyamji wanted to help the other day... he had taken money from me and given her..." she whispered, as the two of them watched a transaction take place. Anjali's mind set to work, trying to connect things... She seemed to understand now....
Edited by Dynamix215 - 12 years ago
Ishaani
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